European Week for Waste Reduction is fast approaching, but Monaco has started its efforts early with a new scheme that offers old or unwanted glasses – corrective or for sun protection – a second life. Here are all the details.  

From 13th to 26th November, shoppers and passersby at the Fontvieille shopping centre will be able to drop off eyeglasses of all kinds at four designated collection bins.

There is one for far-sighted or presbyopic spectacles, called presbyte in French, another for short-sighted or myopie glasses, one for glasses worn by people with astigmatism, and a final box for coloured specs and sunglasses with or without a prescription. If you aren’t sure which box to use, deposit glasses in the yellow box, says a spokesperson for the Direction de l’Environnement, which is managing the drive. 

At the end of the scheme, the Direction de l’Environnement will collect up all the donations and sort them for recycling, if broken beyond repair, or reuse, and hand functional glasses to the Semeurs d’Espoir association, which will distribute them among those in need for a new pair of specs.  

According to the Direction de l’Environnement, some 100 million pairs of perfectly good glasses are needlessly sitting around in drawers and in cabinets when they could be used by the 500 million people who need a new set.

The recycling boxes can be found at the entrance to the Galerie Commerciale de Fontvieille.  

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Photo source: Direction de l’Environnement